Wed., Nov. 22, 2017, 3:42 p.m.
PUBLIC LANDS -- Colville National Forest officials have lifted the temporary road closure that has been in place since June on the lower portion of Forest Road 2220 (Sullivan Creek Road). The road has been closed due to hazard trees that burned this summer from...
Thu., Nov. 9, 2017, 6 a.m.
PUBLIC LANDS – Renting the historic Red Ives Ranger Cabin on the St. Joe River is being switched from a mail-in lottery to a national online reservation system, the Idaho Panhandle National Forests reports. Starting this month, reservations will be made through the Reserve America...
Mon., Oct. 23, 2017, 3:31 p.m.
WILDERNESS -- A federal judge last week upheld protections for some of the last roadless areas of the Kootenai National Forest in northwest Montana and the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, according to a release from Earthjustice. A challenge by snowmobilers that sought to overturn the...
Tue., Aug. 22, 2017, 6 a.m.
WILDERNESS -- Trails in the proposed Scotchman Peaks Wilderness straddling the Montana-Idaho border are getting a boost this season from volunteers who are being supported by a $6,000 grant from a new national fund. Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness recently received $6,000 from the National...
Mon., Aug. 21, 2017, 1:37 p.m.
PUBLIC LANDS -- An Alabama native who's worked on or for national forests since he was 18 has been named Chief of the U.S. Forest Service. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced the new chief is Tony Tooke, who's currently the Regional Forester...
Wed., Aug. 2, 2017, 7:39 a.m.
PUBLIC LANDS -- Forest Service announcements that commercial huckleberry picking is illegal on Idaho Panhandle National Forests has prompted a flurry of calls to county sheriff's offices regarding violators in North Idaho. But the counties don't have authority to pinch illegal huckleberry operations unless they're...
Tue., Aug. 1, 2017, 12:04 p.m.
FIRE SEASON -- High temperatures and no rain have rendered the landscape a tinderbox and the inevitable restrictions are coming. The Colville National Forest is the first of others to come to step up fire-prevention restrictions to higher levels, including a complete ban on campfires,...
Fri., July 7, 2017, 6 a.m.
WILDLIFE -- Following several bear encounters in the past week, including the terrifying attack on a woman and her dogs hiking near Priest Lake, the Idaho Panhandle National Forest is putting out more education on living and recreating in bear country, especially in this season...
Fri., May 19, 2017, 10:15 a.m.
WINTERSPORTS – After years of proposals, the expansion of the Lookout Pass Ski and Recreation Area has been approved by the U.S. Forest Service, according to an agency media release today. Idaho Panhandle National Forest Supervisor Mary Farnsworth and Lolo Forest Supervisor Tim Garcia announced...
Thu., May 4, 2017, 6 a.m.
PUBLIC LANDS -- In case you've been out of the loop for the past few months, record precipitation this winter has led to road washouts that are restricting access to public lands in many areas of the region's national forests and other public lands. The...
Fri., March 24, 2017, 6:01 a.m.
TRAILS -- The Forest Service is letting the public suggest trail systems that should receive priority for maintenance in an era of bare-bones trail budgets. "No new money is coming in, but we're looking to do more teaming with partners and volunteers," said Kent Wellner,...
Thu., March 16, 2017, 4:42 p.m.
PUBLIC LANDS -- The Sandpoint Ranger District has issued temporary closures on several Forest Service roads in Bonner County because of thawing and excessive moisture, according an agency media release. "The road closure is to prevent damage to soft roadbeds on Butler Creek Road #230...
Tue., March 14, 2017, 8 a.m.
THREATENED SPECIES -- The public is being given more time to comment on four options for restoring grizzly bears to the North Cascades in Washington. The National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have extended the public comment period regarding the proposed alternatives...
Wed., Feb. 8, 2017, 7:11 a.m.
PUBLIC LANDS -- Don't trust federal land grabber Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah. He's part of the problem. Chaffetz made headlines last week and got some positive attention for withdrawing his unpopular legislation to mandate the sale of more than 3 million acres of public lands...
Thu., Jan. 19, 2017, 11:40 a.m.
WILDERNESS -- A federal judge has ruled that helicopter landings in Idaho wilderness to capture and collar wolves were illegal and that research data acquired from effort must be destroyed. According to a media release by Earthjustice, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill today...
Wed., Jan. 18, 2017, 6 a.m.
PUBLIC LANDS -- The St. Joe Ranger District is accepting applications for the lottery to select reservation rental dates for the popular Red Ives Cabin. Red Ives, which is just off the St. Joe River and its world-class cutthroat trout fishing, is among the small...
Wed., Nov. 30, 2016, 8:42 a.m.
A draft management plan for two recently created central Idaho wilderness areas prohibits campfires at high elevations to protect whitebark pine and eliminates horses and other recreational stock in some areas to protect alpine soils. The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management...
Fri., Oct. 28, 2016, 6 a.m.
PUBLIC LANDS -- The Colville National Forest is looking to fill 50 seasonal jobs in northeast Washington for next summer. Forest officials are going so far as to hold workshops to help applicants fill out forms. Applications must be submitted online at www.usajobs.gov from Nov....
Thu., Oct. 27, 2016, 6 a.m.
TRAILS -- The citizen council that advises the Forest Service on the tri-state Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail (PNNST) will meet Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 2-3 at the Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish, Montana. The council will provide advice and recommendations to the Forest Service...
Wed., Oct. 12, 2016, 9:01 a.m.
WINTERSPORTS -- Snowmobilers and other winter outdoor enthusiasts have a new place to warm up in the mountains north of Sandpoint. Two dozen students from the University of Idaho’s College of Art and Architecture worked with U.S. Forest Service and regional partners over the past...
Wed., Oct. 5, 2016, 6 a.m.
PUBLIC LANDS -- In its third newsletter in a series addressing comments received from the public about the Colville National Forest planning effort, the revision team provides background and clarifications regarding the Roadless Rule, Inventoried Roadless Areas and how these are considered in forest plan...
Tue., Sept. 20, 2016, 7:11 a.m.
PUBLIC LANDS -- Idaho Panhandle National Forests officials at Priest Lake are temporarily closing a section of Forest Road 334 starting Oct. 1 while a culvert is replaced. Quartz Creek Road, as it's called, will be closed from the junction with Forest Road 416 and...
Mon., Sept. 12, 2016, 6 a.m.
PUBLIC LANDS -- People with a special interest in North Idaho national forests are invited to sit in on the Panhandle Forest Collaborative. The next meeting will be noon to 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 14 at the Bonner County Administration Building, 1st Floor Conference Room,...
Sat., Sept. 3, 2016, 8:18 p.m.
PUBLIC LANDS -- The Little Snowy Top fire lookout in the Salmo-Priest Wilderness has burned to the ground, according to an Idaho dispatch report today. The fire sounds suspicious since no land was...
Wed., Aug. 31, 2016, 7:59 a.m.
PUBLIC LANDS – Jason Reed, 22, of Boise pleaded guilty Tuesday in United States Magistrate Court to destruction of the government-owned Trapper Cabin at the French Creek Trailhead on...
Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.